Hi, I'm Michael, this is Lessons from the Screenplay.
(intense music playing)
The midpoint of Portrait of a Lady on Fire
contains some absolutely brilliant filmmaking
and I've become obsessed with it.
It's a deceptively simple scene
about the evolving power dynamic and a burgeoning romance.
It has 10 lines of dialogue, nine cuts, four shots,
two camera moves, no music and a conventional structure
but every one of these seemingly basic elements
dramatically enhances the narrative and themes.
Each character is carefully placed
within each frame to bring attention to the theme
of observer and observed.
While the camera moves
as if pulled by the gravity of the shifting power dynamics
and the pacing of the scene dictated by the editing,
blocking and performances amplifies the emotions
of each beat.
Admittedly, none of these things
are particularly related to screenwriting
and thus not what we would normally explore on this channel
but the filmmaking in this scene is so great
that I want to make an exception this one time.
Or at least that's how the video was going to start.
As I was finishing up my first draft of the video
I made one final attempt to find the screenplay
for Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
And as luck would have it,
I happened to find a group of amazing people on tumblr
who had painstakingly translated the screenplay to English.
Shout out to Anna, Aimee, Graywing, Vittoria and Dina.
Their links are in the description below
along with the link to their translation of the screenplay.
As I read the script, I was pleasantly surprised to find
that every filmmaking technique I wanted to talk about,
performance, blocking, editing, sound, camera framing
was written into the screenplay.
This reveals the impressive foresight
of writer/director Céline Sciamma
and confirms she was considering all of these techniques,
even during the writing process.
So today I want to do an in-depth breakdown
of how Sciamma definitely uses every cinematic tool
from the writing to the camera, to the pacing,
to capture and convey the emotion
in this expertly crafted scene.
One of many in Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
In order to understand how the cinematic tools used
in this scene enhance the story,
we first need to know what the story is.
Let's start with the context of the scene.
As I mentioned, this scene comes halfway through the movie
and it features the two central characters.
Marianne has been commissioned to paint Heloise's portrait
which will be used to secure a marriage for Heloise
that will take her away from France.
But Heloise does not wish to be married off
and has been less than cooperative
when it comes to posing for the portrait,
forcing Marianne to attempt painting Heloise in secret.
By this point in the story, however, a tentative friendship,
and perhaps something even more,
is forming between Marianne and Heloise.
So now that we have that context,
let's take a look at the script
and break down the beats of the scenes.
There's the setup, Marianne-
and I know my French is bad. I'm sorry.
Marianne is struggling to paint Heloise.
"I can't make you smile.
I feel that I manage it but it's like it disappears".
Then comes the inciting incident of the scene
as Marianne teases Heloise and hurts her feelings.
Heloise says, "Anger always wins in the end".
Marianne, "With you for sure".
Marianne then goes on to smugly demonstrate
how well she's come to know Heloise while painting her.
Heloise tries to say that she hasn't hurt her
but Marianne points out, "when you're emotional,
you do this with your hand."
Marianne does this two more times.
"When you're embarrassed you do this.
When you're annoyed, you do this." Rule of threes.
Then Marianne reveals her belief that in this situation
she has more power as the observer, as she says,
"Forgive me. I would hate to be in your place".
But then at the scene's midpoint,
Heloise contests this idea saying, "We're in the same place.
Exactly the same place".
Heloise calls over Marianne
so she can see things from her perspective and points out,
"If you look at me, who am I looking at?".
Heloise then proceeds to use the rhythm
of Marianne's own words as a refrain,
pointing out that she is just as much an observer
and thus has just as much power.
"When you don't know what to say, you do this."
"When you're afraid, you do this."
"When you're upset, you do this."
In doing so Heloise breaks down Marianne's defenses
and creates the crisis of the scene.
"Her turmoil does expose renders, Marianne silent."
This leads to the climax,
where Marianne must decide how she's going to react
to this confrontation.
"The distance between them seems to shrink
even while they remain still."
This leads to the resolution as Marianne retreats
from Heloise who has gained equal footing
in the relationship and leveled the playing field.
So now that we understand the story that's being told
let's look at the cinematic techniques
that bring the story to life.
Beginning with the camera.
Portrait of a Lady on Fire explores the idea
of looking, both on a meta-level-
Céline Sciamma has described it as a manifesto
on the female gaze-as well as on a textual level.
Sciamma says of the confrontation,
"It's an absolutely pivotal scene.
It's the scene which marks the shot/reverse shot dynamic
of the film.
What's the power of the person who's watching?
who is watching whom?".
In this scene, the power is held by the observer.
Throughout Marianne and Heloise's relationship
up to this point,
this has been Marianne, simply because she is the painter
and Heloise is the subject.
So how does the camera portray this dynamic?
In this scene, as in previous scenes of painting,
cinematographer Claire Mathon frames Marianne, the observer
in a medium closeup.
She's slightly shielded by the easel and canvas
and the physical position of the camera
is relatively close to her
making us feel like we are with her.
Heloise, the observed, is framed in a medium shot
with the camera further away
so that we are essentially seeing her
from Marianne's point of view.
Unlike Marianne, there's no object shielding Heloise.
She is completely exposed to the camera's gaze.
So with this visual relationship established
how does the camera help convey the shifting of power
within the scene?
At the midpoint, Heloise calls over Marianne
in order to show her how things look from her perspective.
So Marianne steps into Heloise's frame.
Then as Heloise dismisses Marianne's
false perception of their dynamic,
the camera pushes in.
As Heloise claims power, she grows larger in the frame
and as she demonstrates why they are in the same place,
we see them framed as equals.
One of the people who helped with the translation
of the screenplay, Graywing,
who also did a breakdown of the scene
which I'll link to in the description,
describes this moment beautifully.
"It's so seemingly simple
but the enormity of the revelation
of realizing her state of exposure this entire time
and the tension in which lurks a different revelation,
one of attraction, forces Marianne to flee the frame."
As Marianne exits the frame,
the camera pushes in even further
until Heloise is framed exactly
as Marianne was at the start of the scene.
And in the final shot we see Marianne,
who is framed even wider than Heloise was
at the start of the scene.
This visual reversal
is spelled out clearly in the screenplay.
"For the first time, we see things
from Heloise's point of view
and the shift is a revelation.
It is she who was watching.
And from here, Marianne looks fragile and feverish."
In fact, writer/director Céline Sciamma said,
"this is the only time we will have this frame on Marianne,
looked at and her own fragility, by the model."
So the way the camera moves, how it frames the characters,
and how those characters move within each frame
precisely convey the shifting power dynamics of the scene.
But there's another filmmaking technique at play
in the scene.
One that is less obvious, but just as important.
The pacing.
A filmmaker can use dynamic pacing
to direct the audience's attention
and to affect us emotionally,
making us feel comfortable or uncomfortable.
Pacing can often be driven by the musical score,
but Portrait of a Lady on Fire doesn't have a score.
The only music in the film is diegetic
which means that the characters can hear it
because it comes from sources within the story world.
This diegetic music is used sparingly and to great effect.
It was kind of scary because PLPs without a score
and love story without score, you got to make that decision
very early on in the process of writing,
because you're not going to write film the same way,
because you have to find this rhythm
and also be aware that you will have to find the melody
and the musicality of the film elsewhere.
Because of the lack of score,
the musicality and rhythm of each scene
were determined solely by the editing, performances,
and blocking-the actors positions and movements.
So how do these elements enhance the story of the scene?
If we pay attention to the rhythm of the dialogue,
we can see that silence is used
to punctuate each important beat.
For example, after Marianne hurts Heloise's feelings,
there's a beat of silence.
(conversation in French)
This highlights the impact of her words
which serves as the inciting incident of the scene.
With the following lines, Marianne illustrates her power
by demonstrating how well she knows her opponent.
She wields this knowledge, almost like a weapon.
So the patience with which
actor Noemie Merlant delivers each line,
conveys a confidence that each of our strikes will land.
Let's play back these lines
and pay attention to how the moments of silence
both between each line and within each line
stretch longer and longer until Heloise finally caps off
the exchange with a quick retort.
(conversation in French)
It's worth mentioning that these beats of silence
are suggested in the screenplay,
signaled by brief action lines that describe performance,
something relatively uncommon.
During this first half of the scene,
the editing cuts back and forth
between the characters with relative frequency,
selectively allowing the audience
to see both actors' performances as desired.
But then comes the mid point.
And just as it marks of reversal in the story of the scene,
it also marks of a reversal and the rhythm of the editing.
As soon as Heloise takes control,
the cutting back and forth halts.
(conversation in French)
Instead the next 77 seconds of the scene
are played in a single take.
(conversation in French)
Again, this technique is suggested in the screenplay
along with the role that sound design plays.
"The sound of Marianne's footsteps approaching.
Heloise waits for her and the camera's frame.
Finally Maryanne joins her."
Here, the blocking is used to convey authority.
Heloise stays seated and like a queen commanding a servant,
she summons Marianne across the room and into her frame.
Because the only sounds in the scene
are those that come from the actors movements,
Céline Sciamma even takes care to select
the number of footsteps that will create the right pacing.
It's about the rhythm of the steps,
the breathing, and so most of my solutions,
they are musical solutions.
Like for instance I would really tell them like,
you're going to her.
This is five steps.
It's not six, it's not four
because it's not the same,
like five steps or six steps, it doesn't feel the same.
Six steps feel complete, for instance.
Five steps is like a there's still a question in the air.
Like you would be missing a step.
So maybe the next step will be the kiss,
for instance, you know.
Silence is used once more
to punctuate the critical turning point of the scene.
(conversation in French)
And as Heloise uses Marianne's own tactics against her,
Heloise's confidence is accentuated by actor
Adèle Haenel's even greater patience with each line.
(conversation in French)
Again, the editing and sound design
are suggested in the screenplay.
"We don't leave Heloise's gaze
as we hear Marianne returned to her place behind the easel."
Heloise returns to her role as the subject
but with a new found power.
And the last edit of the scene finally breaks the long take.
The pacing of the scene works in tandem
with the camera's framing and movement
to dramatically enhance the simple scene
about shifting power.
But I want to point out one last thing
about the power dynamic.
In the moments after Heloise has demonstrated
she is as much of an observer as Marianne,
there is a powerful tension,
but it isn't a tension filled with anger or loathing.
It's a tension of desire.
While Marianne has been studying every aspect of Heloise,
Heloise has been studying every aspect of Marianne.
The implications of this revelation
suddenly render Marianne vulnerable
and a question hangs in the air:
Will they kiss?
In fact, originally this was the scene where they did kiss
for the first time.
If you haven't seen the film, it might seem odd
that there was so much romantic tension
surrounding this power shift.
But the beautiful thing about this scene and this film
is that it's not about seizing power in order to dominate.
It's about deconstructing the power dynamics
between the observer and the observed to unlock equality.
It's only after Marianne and Heloise have achieved equality
that their desire can blossom into love.
Writer/director Céline Sciamma uses all the cinematic tools
at her disposal to create a beautiful story about a quality
between artists, between lovers, between humans.
And as Heloise says,
(Heloise speaking French)
I first heard about Portrait of a Lady on Fire on Mubi.
Mubi is the curated streaming service
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If you like Portrait of a Lady on Fire
then you'll love Mubi
because this is exactly the kind of movie that they feature.
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and even better many of which you haven't.
In fact, if you're in the UK,
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Regardless of where you are,
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Thanks to Mubi for supporting this channel
and for introducing me to Portrait of a Lady on Fire.
Thank you again to all the people
who translated the screenplay for this film.
Once again, all of their links are in the description below.
And if you want more Portrait of a Lady on Fire,
check out our podcast episode, where we dive deeper
into all the things that make this film special.
The link to that is also in the description below.
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And thank you for watching.